I have submitted a number of reviews on books and DVD's over the years. This one I am not so sure about.

I bought Marc Watts DVD from Safari Press during the recent sale. I watched it a couple of times to try and figure out why I really did not like it.

First of all, I like what I see and know of Marc Watts. Seems like a super guy- successful, interesting, has a plethora of seemingly disconnected interests in life, has a family, etc.

Second, the video quality is very good. It is not outstanding in terms of editing and scripting, but the camera work is good.

Third, in summary, this is a multi-country hunt show where Marc goes on a "Where's Waldo?" tour of the huntable countries. He is after a variety of game and takes a few interesting species and shots.

He is a proclaimed expert marksman and has a number of video clips showing his skills. He even gives us his "all time top 10" one shot kills. These are interspersed with his hunting trips to the various locales.

The narravtives are at times boring and a bit too introspective. He questions his motives, he questions if he is "doing" enough for Africans, he questions being away from his son on these trips.

Overall, I got tired and bored listening to Marc talk (he was a TV announcer at one time) and talk about his shooting skills. Yes, he can shoot well, but the viewer hears this repeatedly in the DVD. It was distracting.

Anyway, I figured out that I prefer a more humble type guy taking me hunting on his DVD and one that talks less - more like the guy in Black Shale White Sheep or in Mountain Buffalo.

Anyway, I won't be watching it again and will put in on ARBay for $10 sometime in the future. If you like Marc and his style, you will like this DVD, however, it is not on my top of the pile list of hunting DVD's.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
ARBay for $10 sometime in the future.

I'll take it(seriously, please pm me with payment instructions).

I have only seen three of Marc's videos, but I really enjoyed them(I have probably only seen 8 hunting videos in the past 6 years-just not me thing. The mountain buffalo video is a favorite) What is funny is that I liked them for the same reasons that you disliked them: Marc's narration.

Marc has unmatched "mike skills" in the hunting video arena. When I first saw one of his videos in about 2005 I was blown away. Keep in mind that I was comparing him to the Capstick videos and Boddington's pre-Tracks Across Africa stuff....

I am a huge fan of CB's writing, but his early video had some rough narration to say the least.

Mark is a breath of fresh air.

Some of his stuff has seemed contrived and I would go so far as to say that his videos have, at times, entered the reality TV show drama arena.

Overall I am glad to have Marc around as I see him as a great ambassador of our sport.

Jason,
I am with you on your last point. I am glad he is around and doing his thing. He speaks well and the product is well produced. I just wearied of it for the reasons I stated.

I thought it was trash too, Marc is probably a nice guy but he comes off as a shameless self promoter in his DVDS.